How much can you tell about a car by sitting in its passenger seat? Not as much as by driving it of course, but the opportunity to take a seat in Jaguar’s new F-Type does provide some early indications of what the most eagerly awaited car of 2013 will be like on the road when it goes on sale this spring.

Passenger rides
are a well-established tool that PR departments use to garner more coverage
before a new car is given to journalists for testing. The process doesn’t
really give a detailed impression of how a car will perform, but it does give
an indication and the chance to see Jaguar’s new two-seater convertible being
thrown around by Tim Clarke, the firm’s chief power-train engineer, is simply
too good to turn down.

Since its launch
at the Paris motor show last year the F-Type hasn't been short of
publicity, but in the metal and on Welsh roads with a good coating mud, it
looks fantastic. It’s a car Jaguar’s design chief Ian Callum admits he’s wanted
to design since he was a boy. And like all the best car designs it could be
illustrated with one sleek line from its raised rear and spoiler (which pops up
at speed) to its flared wheel arches and aggressive front end. Inside there’s
not a touch of wood in sight and just the right combination of sharp styling
and clever detailing, such as pop-up heaters that emerge when the roof is down.

It’s a pretty car
then, but how does it perform on the road? Again it’s hard to tell from the
passenger seat, but Clarke is able to push it around with poise and take it to
the limits of traction on slippery roads without it misbehaving. It follows the
classic rear-wheel drive and front engine sports-car formula and prices will
start at £58,500 in April. It will have a three-strong engine line-up; two V6s
and a V8. The entry-level engine will offer 335bhp, give a 0-62mph time of 5.3
seconds and hit a limited top speed of 161mph, while the more powerful V8
engine in the S specification will produce 488bhp to hit 62mph in 4.5 seconds
before topping out at a speed of 186mph.

These are all
just number though, says Clarke explaining that 0-62 mph times have become
almost meaningless in modern performance cars. “It’s all about how you deploy
that power,” he adds as he squirts the V6 S we’re in out of a damp Welsh bend.
And as far as I can tell from the passenger seat that power is laid down well
and with precision. The ride is firm as a sports car should be, but
it isn't overly tough or unforgiving. It seems that the engineers at
Jaguar haven’t fallen for the trap of tuning it for Nürburgring – the demanding
German road circuit often used by sports car manufacturers – but have
instead carried out much of the development work on the 'real' roads of north
Wales. Clarke and I follow the route of the so-called Evo Triangle – a road
loop made famous by the motoring magazine of the same name. They are
challenging roads with tight bends, hairpins and fast straights and the F-Type
acquits itself well in both the V6 and V8 form. We won’t know for sure until
getting behind the wheel, but by the sweet note of the smaller engine it sounds
like the V6 S will offer the ideal blend of power and noise in the F-Type
engine range.

I finish up with Jaguar’s chief engineer Mike
Cross to my right for a final B-Road blast. “It’s important that a car drives
like it looks,” he says. The F-Type certainly looks (and sounds) the part and
by early indications it feels like it will handle and ride well. Beyond that
it’s hard to give a full impression from the passenger seat, but watch this
space to find out more in April and see if the hype really is to be believed.

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